Year: 2020

People & Places

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We are  Custodians of a community resource: an asset held in trust by the charity, for the long term benefit of residents living in and around the Welsh market town of Abergavenny. We are community builders and this is the unfolding story of our experience and local involvement in a story where local people have chosen to be active participants in shaping and removing obstacles to [or making ways to access] fundamental things that matter to all of us – food, shelter, health, education, culture, community and care.

Building elevation taking from Park Street

Abergavenny Community Centre resides in the former Park Street Infants School which is nestled in a residential area just a short distance from the town centre. (The Grofield Ward)

After a decade of telling the story and bringing people with us, in 2015 the local authority and the Trust entered into a 3 year lease. In 2019 the process of entering into a 25 year lease began.  

We refer to these first few years since opening as the ‘foundation period’

Over decades, many skilled people have worked voluntarily on the community plan.
  • Cllr Douglas Edwards [Grofield Ward] who listened, supported and enabled through his service to the Ward.
    Marion Pearse, Resident of Park Street.
Laurie Jones [dec 2014] A true warrior. Laurie’s other legacy is the Community Orchard & Gardens in Mill Street.
2007

Where it began

This flyer was distributed around town in 2005. The questions remain as relevant to the future as they were then, and are now. (NB: When we called upon the Pledges a decade later, we raised £6000 to begin the next phase.
Our ambition was finally realised in 2014 when the County Council agreed to lease the building to the Trust on a short term (3 yr) basis. In 2018 following agreement at a full cabinet meeting the wheels were set in motion for a 25 yr lease on the building & upper grounds.

A Community growing space

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Making a safe route 2015
2018

In 2011 the three demountable classrooms had to be demolished. The very first thing we had to do was to create a path of least resistance, a safe walkway from the car park to the door. Then, with little or no money we found ways to adapt and make the demolition site safe for people. With the help of friends from the “Incredible Edibles” movement, we built raised beds where the surface levels varied by several inches, and then we let the magic begin. The enclosed space took shape and form and had some good features – not least to show just how resourceful nature is, despite harsh conditions – but now, a few years later new inspiration, energy and opportunities mean that things are back on the move. Pourous groundcover solutions and better man-made drainage solutions need to be found, so little-by-little please be assured that we are doing the least harm possible as we address the access difficulties, and increase biodiversity on the site at the same time. So whether you come by wheels, with wheels, with two legs or with four we want you to know that we’re doing the best we can to spread limited resources, at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has prevented the Centre from opening and trading. Please trust us to do the best thing for all of the users and uses that we know and that we care about.

Our values and behaviour is driven by not having very much, and that means that we’re always having to make the most of what we have, in order to create more from what we do. It’s slow but it means that we don’t over-do it although that’s easier said, than done. Over the years we’ve leaned on kind many, kind contributions and some of these have helped our outdoor spaces to take shape and flourish, and enabled us to grow things that are important to us, but in order for the Trust to move to a place where we can do more for people and more for the natural world, it must start to plan ahead for the long term security of the community growing space. The first priority is to concentrate our green spaces around the boundary of the site – to let it naturalise, and make it possible for other partnerships* to make a contribution, too.

*A space for peaceful reflection has been in the offering for 5 years.

2019

The future is local

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In 2010 we held an event on the school car park. We set out our stall, and by using interesting ways to capture your thoughts we asked a lot of questions. Your feedback then, helped to shape and inform the commuity centre, and your presence boosted our determination to push on with the plan to hold onto a community building for future generations.
In 2006 we glimpsed at possibilities in the future
Created in 2010 to show how our daily needs are an inseperable part of the bigger local ‘resilience’ picture, if only we could adapt / adopt different daily practices. The Charity has identified simple ways to include more of us in that ‘food chain’ dilemma and is making it practical and achievable for our combined actions to contribute to a thriving local environment.
Created in 2010 – and still the same plan on the ground, today

Things we did earlier 2007/08

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In 2008 we made a film about ourselves

We advertised the film widely and through the local press. Approximately 80 people came to see the film and listen to us as we explained why we felt that ‘community-ownership’ was both necessary, and achievable.

Funding for the film was the combination of private donations and a grant from UNLtd, the social enterprise that supports social entrepreneurs. The film was made by Rob Fairlee supported by Marion Pearse [unltd award winner] and LIz Barnet provided the narative.

It is our hope to relocate the film.

(Posted Feb 2021)